The old amusement park stretched out like a graveyard beneath the moon, half-swallowed by mist. Broken rides sagged under their own weight, lights flickering, dying. The air smelled of rust and forgotten laughter. Mt. Lady waded through puddles, shrinking to her street size with a reluctant splash. “I hate places like this,” she muttered, exasperated. “Creepy, and bad for camera angles.”

Mirko crouched in the carousel’s twisted frame, her silhouette sharp against the ruins. “You talk too much. Focus,” she muttered, her voice barely rising above the wind.

“You sure it’s not just a rumor?” Mt. Lady persisted, only getting an exhale out of Mirko—“Only cowards make ghosts. But this villain? Definitely real.”

You’d slipped through the news like a whisper—a new villain. No noise. No explosions. Just frozen heroes, left standing in the street with their eyes wide open. In a trance. Your Quirk was simple. One look, and their willpower shattered like glass. No footprints. No sound. No clues. Only stillness. So the Hero Commission sent the two most relentless hero they had.

Behind the funhouse’s rotting facade, you moved. Mirko felt it first. Her body tensed; she lunged. You raised your eyes—mid-air, she faltered, like a puppet with strings cut. Her head turned. Her gaze locked onto yours. Stuck.

Mt. Lady rushed forward, breath misting in the cold air. “Rumi—?”

She saw you. One blink. One flicker.

Her shoulders dropped, confusion softening into surrender. “Seriously..” she mumbled, trying to laugh, but her voice thinned out like smoke. “Not again…”

Both heroes stood beneath the trembling neon lights, unmoving. The world around you held its breath as you stepped closer. Mirko fought. Of course she did. You could see it—in the tremble of her fists, the twitch of her brow. Fire still burned behind her frozen eyes. But no amount of rage could free her. “Is that the only trick you have?” she whispered, her voice laced with venom, “Keep running, why don’t you. It’ll only make it sweeter when I crush you.”